Saturday Sample

Today's sample is from Rest Thy Head now available at most online retail outlets. In this excerpt, my hero reveals a few insecurities.

He hadn’t known her all that long, so how could he have fallen so hopelessly in love with her? The answer eluded him, but really he didn’t care. At this point, the only thing that mattered was

saving her from that lunatic. After that he’d bow out of her life and give her the chance to find a man who was worthy of her. Pain washed over him. It felt as if acid and not blood ran through his veins. It would kill him to lose her, but he loved her. He wanted what was best for her, not for him. 

Torn

Title

Torn

Genre

urban fantasy, new adult/adult

Back cover blurb

Three months have passed and Melina thought she was safe. Safe from the effects of the angel powers and safe from the Noxin demons. But she thought too soon.

Just as she’s starting to enjoy her new powers and her new relationship with Lee, the slight pain she still experiences after using the powers starts to grow worse. As the pain becomes more and more unbearable, she finds herself lashing out at innocent people with unexplained anger and hatred. Then to make matters worse, she sees a Noxin demon again.

No one, not even the elders, seems to know what’s happening to Melina, or how a Noxin demon found her. And when she’s introduced to Dean, another unique human like herself, she learns that his pain is completely gone, which only makes her situation even more confusing.

Grasping for any type of answer, Melina throws out one possible explanation after another. But as her angry feelings intensify, and her angel powers grow weaker, she begins to think there might be something malevolent inside her that’s trying to take over. It’s not long before her internal struggle spirals out of control, and her body is turned into a battlefield that’s torn between good and evil.

Melina fears that if no solution is found, then she might lose all the people she loves, especially Lee. But what scares her even more is that she might lose herself to evil.

Tag line

Choosing between good and evil isn’t always that easy.

About the author

Ashley Stambaugh grew up in a small town in Illinois where she and her two siblings created some of the best memories playing on their family’s farm. She stayed in the southern region of the state to attend college where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and also met her husband.

Now, she and her husband live in central Illinois and spend their time creating new memories with their two rambunctious boys and their comical black Pug. She also enjoys reading, taking long walks, and finding great bargains. When her sons are a little bit older, she has a great desire to travel with her family. Oh, and she also has a slight obsession with chocolate.

When she’s not busy chasing after her two young children or losing herself in a good book, you can find her curled up on her couch with her laptop, writing.

Social media links

Website: www.ashleystambaugh.blogspot.com
Facebook author page: www.facebook.com/ashleystambaughauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashleystambaugh

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8054295.Ashley_Stambaugh

Purchase Links

http://www.amazon.com/Torn-Collide-Trilogy-Book-2-ebook/dp/B00SS399IU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1424234539&sr=8-1&keywords=Torn+by+ashley+stambaugh

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/torn-ashley-stambaugh/1121118308?ean=2940149979264

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/torn-70

Saturday Sample

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your valentine gives you his/her heart. In today's excerpt, my hero and heroine have taken shelter in a deserted cabin high in the mountains in order to escape a major ice storm.

Jake rummaged around for a pot to boil some water and caught her staring at him again. Oh, wait, she must be staring at his face. He’d forgotten to sit so that the worst of it was turned away from her. He carried the water over to the fire and caught her staring again. This time he stared back at her. The expression on her face absolutely took his breath away. Her beautiful blue eyes had gone all misty, and her face looked soft, rosy, and dreamy. And oh, those moist looking, tempting lips.

“Jake.”

“What?” He held his breath in anticipation of her answer. Her eyes dropped. “I...I ...nothing. Well...”

“What is it?”

“I love you,” Peyton blurted out.

She surprised him so much that he jumped and hit the pot of water with his knee. The fire made a hissing sound as the water hit it, but there hadn’t been enough water in the pot to put it out.
At that moment Jake would have given ten years off his life to look the way he used to. She loved him.

Peyton’s face had gone scarlet. “Say something,” she demanded. “Didn’t you hear what I said?”

He bit the inside of his lip until he tasted blood. This was something he’d never expected to hear, but he had to keep her welfare in mind, not his own. It didn’t matter that his heart felt warm, full of love and desperate all at the same time. “Yes, I heard you, and I thank you for saying so, but what you’re feeling is gratitude, not love.” 

Buy link:http://tinyurl.com/ktb6dof

Beyond the Book: National Cheese Lover's Day

Bet you don't know what today is. Oh. You looked at the title. Yeah, it's National Cheese Lover's Day. Okay, do you know how much cheese the average American eats each year? Would you believe 31 pounds? Sounds like a lot, but the French eat 50 pounds per year. 

There are more than 900 known kinds of cheese in the world, and they're classified according to texture. The primary classifications are: fresh cheese, soft cheese, semi-soft cheese, semi-hard cheese, hard cheese, double or triple creme cheese, blue cheese, washed rind cheese, and bloomy rind cheese.

People have been making cheese for at least 8,000 years so we know that people have always loved it. 

The recipe below is the one served at Rest Thy Head. It's simple but very tasty. Let me know if you try it.

  

Jake's Macaroni and Cheese

1 1/2 cups macaroni noodles

12 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg

3 1/2 cups milk

crumbled ritz crackers

salt to taste

black pepper

Cook the macaroni noodles, but don't overcook them. It won't matter if they're still a little firm. 

Beat the milk and egg together and combine it with the noodles and cheese. If you like, crumble ritz crackers on the top. (Jake decided not to do this.) Salt and pepper to taste, but don't skimp on the pepper. Bake at 350 until browned on top, but leave it a little juicy. Don't overcook it.

Under Texas Blue Skies

Under Texas Blue Skies

by Debra Holt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

J.D. Sterling, the sexy star of country music, had come back home to McKenna Springs, Texas. Years before, he had left to chase his dream and had succeeded. His life was almost perfect. Almost. He was still missing the part of his heart he had left behind…Mandy Lawson.

Amanda Lawson had changed from the young, innocent Mandy…the teenager madly in love with the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Heartbreak and tragedy would do that to a person. She was determined to keep her well-ordered, work-driven life on the successful path she had fought to achieve on her own. No singing cowboy with a devil’s smile in his green eyes and a sexy body in tight jeans was going to be allowed close enough to break her heart again.

EXCERPT: 

“I have other business in town also,” Amanda spoke up. “I don’t know why I was called out here but…”

“Because I want you.” Those jade green eyes pinned her to her spot. J.D.’s choice of words knocked the air out of Amanda’s lungs for a moment. Did he think that he could turn that look on her, along with that famous half-grin that sent deep grooves down his cheeks and made fingers itch to touch them and females swoon at his feet?  He was still the lying, no good cowboy who had played her for a fool and then left her behind when the bright lights beckoned. He wanted her? Well, he'd had her once, but never again.

Cold blue eyes pinned him. “People don’t always get what they want, J.D. But sometimes they do get what they deserve.”

When Mandy stood looking at him with those blue eyes, where once there had been the warmth of love glowing in them for him, there was now a cool curtain, devoid of anything but a banked anger mixed with a dash of indifference. For some reason, he felt he had been judged and found lacking in her estimation. He definitely had to regroup. There was another battle ahead, and he had fought many in his lifetime and won each of them. This would be the most important one. Losing was not an option.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Debra Holt

     Born and raised in the Lone Star state of Texas, Debra grew up among horses, cowboys, wide open spaces, and real Texas Rangers.  Pride in her state and ancestry knows no bounds and it is these heroes and heroines she loves to write about the most.  She also draws upon a variety of life experiences including working with abused children, caring for baby animals at a major zoo, and owning a wedding planning business (ah, romance!).

     Debra’s real pride and joys, however, are her son, an aspiring film actor, and a daughter with aspirations to join the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (more story ideas!)  When she isn’t busy writing about tall Texans and feisty heroines, she can be found cheering on her Texas Tech Red Raiders, or heading off on another cruise adventure.  She read her first romance...Janet Dailey's Fiesta San Antonio, over thirty years ago and became hooked on the genre. Writing contemporary western romances,  is both her passion and dream come true, and she hopes her books will bring smiles...and sighs... to all who believe in happily-ever-after’s. 

     The Seymour Agency represents Debra and she is soon to have two contemporary romances published by Spencer Hill/Tulip Romance and Astraea Press. Debra invites you to visit her website at www.debraholtbooks.com.  She loves to hear from other aspiring authors or readers via email at debraholtbooks@gmail.com.  

 The author is awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the rafflecopter link below to enter. You can find her tour schedule at

 http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/11/blurb-blitz-under-texas-blue-skies-by.html

a Rafflecopter giveaway